Lambert says he may flip vote on school breakfasts: “It’s technical”

[Update:In an interview with a Colorado Springs TV station, Lambert appears to suggest he and fellow Republicans voted against funding for the Start Smart program because former Gov. Bill Ritter’s office had already rejected the idea late last year. However, there was no discussion of this fact during the Joint Budget Committee’s Jan. 18 meeting nor is it clear that JBC members or staff were even aware of this fact at the time.]

Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, tweeted on Tuesday: “We may eventually change our vote because its technical and the Gov’s Office admitted guilt.”

The JBC last week voted on a 3-3 party-line vote not to provide additional funding for the Start Smart Nutrition Program in the current year. The program subsidizes the cost of reduced-price breakfasts for poor children, so kids who normally would have to pay 30 cents for breakfast get it for free.

Without the additional $124,229, funding for the state subsidy will run out in March and kids eligible for reduced-price breakfasts will have to start paying the 30 cents instead of getting it for free for the rest of the school year.

After the vote, Lambert said, “”As a family guy myself with children and grandchildren, I take a very strong responsibility to earn money to feed my own family.” He suggested churches and charities could step up to provide for hungry families.

His comments angered many people, though he also had a number of defenders.

But by Monday, Rep. Cheri Gerou, R-Evergreen, and Jon Becker, R-Fort Morgan, his fellow Republicans on the JBC, were suggesting they might reverse their votes if they got further data from the Colorado Department of Education. They said they voted against the additional funding because they had concern about the figures presented and because it was only a staff recommendation, not a formal request from the department.

And it was revealed Monday that Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter’s former budget director, Todd Saliman, had denied the program additional funding in the current budget year because he said the request did not meet technical requirements. Saliman said that decision was a “mistake” on his part.

Thus it is that Lambert tweeted, “We may eventually change our vote because its technical and the Gov’s Office admitted guilt.”

But the audio recording of the JBC’s Jan. 18 meeting in which the vote was taken shows that, while Republicans had some technical questions about the program, the bulk of their concerns were philosophical.

“My concern about this, and I know people have to eat,” Gerou said as a staff analyst was making a presentation about the program, “but my concern about this is that this is one of those I think that is not a requirement of Amendment 23.

“In other words, this would be one of those optional programs that if we had to cut next year, and I’m not suggesting we do, I’m just saying I need to put all my options on the table.

“So, if we were to approve this appropriation, this is just through this current fiscal year so that if we decide next year that we had to discontinue the program, the decision we make right now would not be encumbering next year’s budget decisions?”

No, the analyst answered. The JBC could choose to discontinue the program altogether next year if it wanted.

Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, made the motion to approve the additional money for the program.

“For those families that have had children in this program for this much of the school year, I think it’s kind of bizarre to all of sudden, in March or something of the school year, to all of a sudden find out now your kid has to to start bringing 30 cents to school every day for their co-pay on free breakfast,” Steadman said.

“If we want to end our involvement in helping subsidize that for families, let’s talk about it for next school year, but I’d just as soon carry through with what we’ve got going for this one,” he said.

Lambert asked about the effectiveness of the school breakfast program.

“With all of those goals to improve academic performance, have they been able to improve academic performance?” he asked. “Do they have some agencies that they have been tracking to see if this is an effective program for that purpose?

“I guess the gist of it is that, especially if there’s a lot of latitude within the different districts as to how the money is being used, is it really meeting the goal?” Lambert asked. “Is the money being applied to meet that particular goal and are they succeeding in doing it?”

Staff replied that the primary goal of the program was to get more kids to eat school breakfasts. Education officials have repeatedly said children who don’t get a good breakfast are impeded in their learning throughout the day.

Though Steadman made the motion to approve the program unanimously, Gerou objected, and it then failed on a 3-3 vote.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.